To be honest, in my opinion of course, I think this theme supports every class in terms of power. However, there’s a huge power gap between Necromancers, Wizards and the rest which you can not ignore. Addition to that, the online guides also don’t help public opinion to have an objective outlook for themselves.
Whenever I try to insinuate that Forbidden Archives is actually there for your creativity, I get bombarded by online guides and tier lists made by some top notch player. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop players who climbed the Leader Boards with the rest of the classes other than a Necromancer, and whip their own rendition of the build.
I have some notes from playing the game and shifting things around simulator, and I suggest anyone to do the same for themselves. Each class have their own wildcards, but they’re not as flashy compared to toys of Necromancers.
First of all, you have to give away some of the defensive capabilities when you want full benefit from this Season. That usually happens as including RoRG in the setup and equipping a defensive Legendary grade piece. Other than that, there are some defensive active skills that you have to treat as a key for your success, and by the Forbidden Archives theme, each class can equip something extra when they pay attention to sustain their defenses.
In general, you have to be picky about the side Set unless you equipped a 7-piece Set else Set itself simply lacks a certain slot. Unless you equipped a Set with 7-piece or no Set boots, such as Tal’s or even Sunwuko, I wouldn’t consider Crimson’s an option. There are exceptions to this rule, but in case you want to make the most of this theme rather than get stuck with non-Seasonal setup, it’s due making some trade-offs and explore your options.
I haven’t evaluated every combination, but it’s quite possible that every class have setups that have to include RoRG or ignore it completely. Latter is only possible when you spare space for defensive buffs and adapt to play around defensive Legendary item slots that doesn’t interact with RoRG; belts, bracers or off-hands. Do some comparisons between classes and you’ll figure it out.
For example; Monks driven by Spirit drain and use The Flying Dragon in Cube for having limited means for Spirit replenish, or can equip Shenlong’s Set when they have it abundantly on demand. Usually, you have to pair Lefebvre’s (hint: WKL activates it with TR) or Spirit Guards with your other layers of defenses but as you stack Paragon level, I believe it’s possible to replace Lefebvre’s with Mantle of Channeling or Binding of the Lost, depending on your build.
Possible that when you include Inner Sanctuary and SSS on your setup, the buff from BotL shall suffice to get rid of RoRG. But, that won’t apply to every build and in that case you have to include WKL with Lefebvre’s and TR- Bluster.
Similar to above, Crusaders depending on their Wrath replenish have Akkhan’s Addendum with Norvald’s Set to mobilize, else Stone Gauntlets and Akarat’s Awakening to sustain cooldowns. They can get rid of Crimson’s to replace it with Sacred Harness with Falling Sword- PtC and Iron Skin- Charged paired with APD bracers but I reckon they will heavily rely on Akarat’s Champion to replenish resources.
When you can include Sacred Harness and APD to a setup, that’s where you can get rid of RoRG. Alternatively, Stone Gauntlets can help with a build that doesn’t run into problems with Wrath consumption and have to rely on side Sets, but Provoke will be a mandatory pick for keeping the aggression. I reckon the only build to utilize this setup is Invoker to make ends meet with Belt of the Trove before that.
Uniquely, Witch Doctors have to decide between Grin Reaper for pure pet damage inheriting from your bonuses; else Homunculus or Wormwood somewhere just to support Sacrifice- Provoke the Pack with any skill that spawn a Zombie Dog from slain monsters. When you have involved with Homunculus, I suggest that you make a few friends with Uhkapian’s Serpent; else MoC with Firebats- Vampire when off-hand is slot is (equipped Zuni’s off-hand) not available.
Alternative to those would be pairing Sacred Harvester and The Last Breathe or Starmetal Kukri depending on your setup and choice of skill for sustaining Zombie Dog spawns.
As I gathered, Wizards have to choose whether they include Archon form or not; Fazula’s belt or equipping Set Sources are the means of ditching RoRG. Seemingly, Wizards can choose between Starfire for reverse Archon, Deathwish for channeling skills, then add Primordial Soul or Orb of Infinite Depth depending on the preferred range and elemental.
As for defensive options, there’s not much to talk about because OoID and Karini’s ring are almost staple items. In case you meant to equip OoID or Fazula’s with a Set Source (Chantodo’s, Tal’s, Firebird’s), you can also utilize Halo of Arlyse instead by pairing Ice Armor- Ice Reflect thanks mobility you gain from related Sets.
Compared to that, Demon Hunters have to mind their aptness with archery by choosing between Odyssey’s and Calamity (hint: pick MfD- Grim). As far as I’m concerned, at any setup it’s possible to choose between Wraps of Clarity, MoC and pairing APD with Frostburn for the sake of FoK- Bladed Armor; all are viable options but you have great weapons like Dawn, Lianna’s and Fortress Ballista as well to go with it. So I reckon you ought to have at least one defensive weapon stocked in the Cube, because other slot options are very weak or not for every setup like Zoey’s belt.
Things only get complicated for Barbarians, because they have to choose between equipping 2-handed weapons with elemental damage (ie. Heart Slaughter and Bone King favored), or if survival is a concern they have to equip a shield (hint: you have a passive for that) by tossing every possible weapon with Blood Brother in the Cube.That’s something new for everyone because it defies the average dual wield fantasy of Barbarians and force them to pick between survival or more damage output. In summary, picking a 2-handed weapon, is a notable damage increase but you have to keep RoRG for defensive purposes; yet picking a shield would allow you to ignore RoRG.
because it feels too close to Non seasonal with no real added fun features. I’ll be back next season:)